A total of 20 passengers died when a express bus they were in skidded and overturned at the expressway near Bukit Gantang, Malaysian northern state of Perak on Monday morning.

It is probably the worse highway accident involving an express bus so far this year, the New Straits Times said.

The accident occurred at 4:45 AM when the bus from Johor Baru of southern Johor state was heading towards Alor Star of northern Kedah state, a police spokesman said.

It killed 19 passengers, including 12 men and 7 women, and injured 7 passengers seriously on the spot.

The injured have been sent to the Hospital Taiping, 20 kilometers from the scene of the accident later.

However, one of the seriously injured had died in the hospital, which brings the death toll to 20.

According to the spokesperson, the accident occurred while the bus was descending a slope and had hit a divider before it overturned and ended up in a 5-meter deep ditch.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2007)